Club Meeting: 9 March 2022
Report by: Nicole Morley

When designing your pepper mill shape, keep in mind that these are quite commonly dropped or not treated like a prized possession. So, in another words, don’t get too crazy with your overall design and keep it more to the embellishing side if you feel the need. Hardwoods are generally better for making pepper mills as well for the same reason.

If your tool rest has those nicks in it from hitting your tools on it, a hint is to use a belt sander on it to tidy it up. Nothing worse than trying to get a flat surface and hitting those spots.

Now, start the lathe slow to check everything is secure and then ramp it up to warp speed.

From this point I then added two pages of notes on the whole process of making the peppermill, then thought to be honest, when you purchase the mechanism, it will come with instructions in it. So “select all” delete.

So just a few more notes..

• Use CA Glue around the central hole in the base of your grinder just to strengthen up the wood there in case of knocks etc.
  
• Some plastic caps have multiple stripes of raised plastic on them – take off every second one to make it easier to install.
  
• Some also have clips, you can quite happily cut these off with a pair of side cutters or a Stanley knife then a light sand. These aren’t really required.
  
• Use a 5 minute epoxy to glue your pieces in place.

I also will just take a second to Thank Dave for the mechanisms that were up for grabs in our raffle tonight. Look forward to seeing a few made mills on the show and tell table. 😊

And if you have any other queries, feel free to flick Dave a message. He is always willing to answer any questions you may have.

Nicole

Project Sheet – Pepper Grinder
Watch David on YouTube